Makes: 6 small crab cakes
Notes:
The secret to great crab cakes starts with great crab. Freshly cooked blue crab is the best choice for this recipe, but you can occasionally find high quality canned backfin blue crab in some stores. One such brand comes in 16-ounce cans from Phillips Seafood and is sold at Costco, Sam’s Club, Wal Mart and Von’s stores. One order of this appetizer at the restaurant gets you 3 crab cakes; this recipe makes 6 cakes from 1/2-pound of crab. If you have a 1-pound can of crabmeat, you can save the leftover 1/2-pound for another recipe or double-up on this one. Any surplus crab cakes will keep for 24 hours in the fridge before you need to get them in a pan. Remember to be gentle when making crab cakes. Don’t stir the crab too much into the other ingredients. Rather, fold the mixture gently with a spatula to combine everything. You want the big chunks of tasty crab to stay together as big chunks of tasty crab.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound lump crab meat
3 Tbsp. plain bread crumbs (such as Progresso)
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. minced green onion (green part only)
2 Tbsp. minced red bell pepper
1/2 beaten egg
1 tsp. minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1/2 tsp. yellow prepared mustard
1/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
vegetable oil
Remoulade Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. capers
2 tsp. chopped dill pickle slices (hamburger pickles)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. salt
Directions:
1. Measure all the ingredients for the crab cakes -- except the panko and vegetable oil -- into a large bowl.
2. Use a spatula to carefully fold the ingredients together. Be sure not to over stir the mixture or those tasty lumps of crab will fall apart. The best crab cakes have nice big chunks of crab in ’em.
3. Use your hands or a spoon to fill six cups of a clean muffin tin with equal amounts of the crab mixture.
4. Press down a bit on each crab cake so that the top is flat.
5. Don’t press too hard or the crab cakes will be hard to get out.
6. Cover the muffin tin with plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge for a couple hours.
7. This step will help the cakes stay together when they’re browned in the oil.
8. Make the remoulade sauce by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl.
9. Cover and chill the sauce until you’re ready to serve up the crab cakes.
10. After the crab cakes have chilled through, heat up about 1/4-inch of vegetable oil in large skillet over medium/low heat.
11. Fill a shallow bowl with the panko breadcrumbs.
12. Carefully turn the crab cakes out onto a plate.
13. Gently roll each crab cake around in the panko breadcrumbs.
14. Each crab cake should be wearing a light coating of panko.
15. Test the oil by dropping a pinch of panko into the pan. It should sizzle.
16. Sauté the crab cakes in the hot oil for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side or until the cakes are golden brown.
17. Drain crab cakes on paper towels or a rack very briefly, then serve them up hot with the remoulade sauce alongside in a little dish.
Source:
The Cheesecake Factory
http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/2584011-Mini-Crabcakes?full_recipe=true
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